After Monteith died abruptly July 13 as a result of a heroin-alcohol mix, Michele, who plays golden-voiced prima donna Rachel Berry on Fox's musical dramedy, turned to another "Glee" star, she tells Lizzy Goodman in the December issue of Elle.

"I called [Hudson] and said, 'I don't know where I'm going to go because my house is swarmed [with reporters].' She was like, 'Oh, you're going to stay at my house.' Like it was nothing. No one knew I was there," she said. "I'll never really be able to thank her, truly, for what she did for me."

OK, that makes us really feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, despite the cover line quoting her as saying "there are so many aspects of this that people are not invited to know."

Michele, who dated the 31-year-old actor for a few years, is still mourning her late boyfriend. But she said she's now starting to heal, and she appears to be setting the gold standard for how to mourn in Hollywood.

"I never thought I would be in this position in my whole life," the 27-year-old added. "Now that I am in this position, you can choose to rise, and that's what I'm going to try to do. I know that Cory would want nothing more than for me to take this situation and use it to help people."

"It's very hard," she added. "And you have to be very strong to come out of this alive, but I think by doing the best for myself, by showing that you don't have to lose yourself, maybe someone else will feel some sort of strength or comfort."

Cory Monteith's death has been ruled accidental -- that according to the final coroner's report released Wednesday by Canadian authorities in Vancouver, B.C., where the "Glee" star was found dead July 13.